Thursday
Sep082016

UK Wants Swarms of Drones for Defence Missions  Infantry_Quad_MODrsz

Infantry_Quad_MODrszThe UK  Ministry of Defence is to invest up to £3 million in this ‘Many drones make light work’ competition. The aim is to find technology solutions that show and evaluate the benefits of using drones for defence.

 

The challenge is to operate swarms of more than 20 unmanned air systems (UAS), also known as drones. A single operator should be able to coordinate these drones to fly closely coupled. They must be usable for military purposes in a contested environment. They must be also usable across the electro-magnetic spectrum. This means ranging from visible frequencies through to low frequency radio waves.

The competition challenges are:

  • open, modular UAS
  • mission management of UAS swarms
  • development of technology enablers for UAS swarms

As well as developing technology components, proposals should show integrated system solutions. These should comprise technology components from more than one supplier.

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This is a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition run in partnership with Innovate UK. The competition has 2 phases:

Phase 1

Up to £1 million is available. We expect to fund several projects, allocating between £40,000 and £80,000 each. Projects should last up to 6 months.

Phase 2

Up to £2 million is available. This phase is open only to projects funded through phase 1 of the competition.

Competition information

  • This competition is open now
  • The application deadline is Thursday 3 November 2016
  • There will be a briefing for potential applicants at the CDE Innovation Network event on Thursday 22 September 2016

Find out more about this competition and apply online

Source: UAS Vision - Press Release

Thursday
Sep082016

Qualcomm and AT&T Trial Drones on Cellular Network

snapdragon-flight-board-ruler-hand-featureQualcomm Incorporated has announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI) and AT&T, will test Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or drones, on commercial 4G LTE networks.

 

The trials will analyse how UAS can operate safely and more securely on commercial 4G LTE and networks of the future, including 5G. The research will look at elements that would impact future drone operations.

The team will look at coverage, signal, strength and mobility across network cells and how they function in flight. The goal of the trials and ongoing research is to help enable future drone operations, such as Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), as regulations evolve to permit them. The ability to fly beyond an operator’s visual range could enable successful delivery, remote inspection and exploration. Wireless technology can bring many advantages to drones such as ubiquitous coverage, high-speed mobile support, robust security, high reliability and quality of service (QoS).

“The trial with a carrier with the reach and technology of AT&T is a significant step in the development of connectivity technologies for small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS), including optimization of LTE networks and advancement of 5G technology for drones,” said Matt Grob, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Not only do we aim to analyze wide-scalable LTE optimization for safe, legal commercial SUAS use cases with beyond line-of-sight connectivity, but the results can help inform positive developments in drone regulations and 5G specifications as they pertain to wide-scale deployment of numerous drone use cases.”

“Many of the anticipated benefits of drones, including delivery, inspections and search and rescue will require a highly secure and reliable connection,” said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, IoT Solutions, AT&T. “With a focus on both regulatory and commercial needs, LTE connectivity has the potential to deliver optimal flight plans, transmit flight clearances, track drone location and adjust flight routes in near real-time. Solving for the connectivity challenges of complex flight operations is an essential first step to enabling how drones will work in the future.”

The UAS trials will be based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight drone development platform, which is designed to offer superior control and navigation capabilities. Already in use in some commercially available drones, the platform offers high fidelity sensor processing, precise localization, autonomous visual navigation and 4K videography all in an integrated, light-weight model suitable for consumers and enterprises.

Trials will begin later this month at Qualcomm Technologies’ San Diego Campus. Testing will take place at its FAA-authorized UAS Flight Center and test environment. The center contains “real world” conditions including commercial, residential, uninhabited areas and FAA controlled airspace. This facility permits testing of the use of commercial cellular networks for drones without affecting AT&T’s everyday network operations.

Source: Press Release

 

Thursday
Sep082016

Mercedes Benz, Matternet Unveil Delivery Drone Van

 

Mercedes-Benz Vans and drone tech startup Matternet have created a concept car, or as they’re calling it a Vision Van, that could change the way small packages are delivered across short distances. The Vision Van’s rooftop serves as a launch and landing pad for Matternet’s new, Matternet M2 drones. 

The Matternet M2 drones, which are autonomous, can pick up and carry a package of 4.4 pounds across 12 miles of sky on a single battery charge in real world conditions.

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They are designed to reload their payload and swap out batteries without human intervention. They work in conjunction with Mercedes Benz Vans’ on-board and cloud-based systems so that items within a van are loaded up into the drone, automatically, at the cue of software and with the help of robotic shelving systems within the van.

Matternet designed a hard-shelled case to protect and carry any given cargo. The drone’s payload can transmit data about the contents and destination of a given delivery.

For a logistics company using the Matternet M2 drones or Vision Vans, that data could serve as a kind of proof of delivery, and alert users the instant a package has arrived.

Andreas Raptopoulos, co-founder and CEO of Matternet explained that while all of this sounds and looks like the stuff of sci-fi, the vans with integrated drone technology could be put to immediate good use where regulations allow.

The Vision Van can, for example, launch a Matternet M2 drone with a payload to a final destination that’s not accessible to a van or driver, whether that’s due to traffic in a populated urban area or a lack of safe roads in a more rural or disaster-stricken area.

Or, the drones could fly a package from a distribution center or warehouse to a van so a driver can ultimately take the package down and walk it up to a customer’s doorstep nearby.

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The Vision Van from Mercedes-Benz Vans is a revolutionary van study for the urban environment. As an integrated system, the vehicle merges a number of innovative technologies for last-mile delivery operations and thus sets the standard of performance requirements and solutions for future generations of vans.

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The Vision Van features a fully automated cargo space, integrated drones for autonomous air deliveries and a state-of-the-art joystick control. Powered by a 75 kW electric drive system with a range of up to 270 km, deliveries with the Vision Van are locally emission-free. The electric drive system additionally guarantees that it will remain possible to operate the Vision Van in inner-city zones where the introduction of bans on vehicles with internal combustion engines is planned. The virtually silent electric drive system facilitates late deliveries in residential areas for the purposes of same-day delivery.

Cloud-based control software meets optimum cargo hardware

The Vision Van merges numerous innovative technologies and serves as the central, intelligent element in a fully connected delivery chain. Innovative algorithms control order picking, the loading of packages, the fully automated cargo space management, route planning for the vehicle and the delivery drones.

At the same time, the system supplies two drones with deliveries of up to 2 kg each. The drones then deliver the packages autonomously within a radius of 10 km.

At the same time, the system supplies two drones with deliveries of up to 2 kg each. The drones then deliver the packages autonomously within a radius of 10 km.

They also calculate ideal delivery routes for the package deliverer. Automatic order picking takes place at the logistics centre, for example, and consignments are loaded into special racking systems. Driverless handling vehicles load the racks by way of an automated one-shot loading process. The intelligent cargo space management system automatically transfers packages for manual delivery to the deliverer at the delivery destination by means of a package dispenser on board the vehicle. At the same time, the system supplies two drones, each with a payload capacity of two kilogrammes, with consignments for autonomous delivery within a radius of 10 km.

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The front design alone is enough to transport the beholder into the distant future. The face is defined by the extremely wide windscreen, which curves around to the sidewalls like a high-tech visor, the Black Panel radiator grille with integrated LED matrix via which the Vision Van communicates with its surroundings and the progressively designed LED headlamps. The sharp contours of these elements contrast with the vehicle’s smooth surfaces, engaging in a fascinating dialogue between passion/emotion and technology/functionality. The vehicle communicates with its surroundings via LED displays on the front and rear. Warnings appear when the delivery drones take off, when the vehicle stops or when the deliverer alights, for example.

Being pared down to a maximum level of functionality the interior design comes in a highly futuristic guise. The designers have done without a steering wheel, pedals and centre console in favour of drive-by-wire control by means of a joystick, thereby creating new design options. This results in a unique interior centring on intelligent communication between driver and vehicle. It has also been possible to move the driver’s seat further forward to enlarge the vehicle’s useful floor space.

The electric drive system that powers the Vision Van has an output of 75 kW and a range of up to 270 km.

The electric drive system that powers the Vision Van has an output of 75 kW and a range of up to 270 km.

The dashboard in the shape of a broadly sweeping arc is covered with a premium textile and extends across the entire front end. The entire surface of the arc is used to provide the driver with all the information he needs for his work. When the Vision Van is in stand-by mode, the arc appears as a continuous blue surface with a black colour gradient. When the vehicle is in operation, the arc lights up and shows a tachometer, route planning information and drone flight data, for example.

The vehicle also communicates with the driver via the cabin floor. By way of a special effect LED indicators shine in the stainless steel floor, signalling to the driver whether pedestrians or cyclists are approaching, for example. At the rear wall of the driver’s cabin are the package dispenser and the driver’s info terminal providing all the relevant information on the delivery process. This terminal serves as a means of communication between the Vision Van’s autonomously functioning system environment and the driver, who is able to concentrate fully on the manual delivery task at hand. It also performs the role of a central control unit to interlink the intelligent vehicle, the automated systems and the information relating to the delivery orders to be carried out.

A division of Daimler, Mercedes Benz may be better known for its luxury and sports cars. However, the Mercedes Benz Vans unit sold 321,000 vehicles in 2015, according to a company financial statement, with popular models in travel and logistics including the Sprinter, Marco Polo, Vito (known as the Metris in the U.S.) and Citan.

According to a company press statement Mercedes Benz has invested an undisclosed amount in Matternet. According to SEC filings, Matternet has so far raised $9.5 million of a targeted $11.5 million venture funding round.

Raptopolous declined to comment on the filing or the company’s funding status. Executives from Mercedes Benz Vans were not immediately available for an interview.

Sources: DaimlerTech Crunch

Thursday
Apr142016

US Navy’s Solar Drone Lands on Water

aqua-quadUnlike most quadcopters, the Aqua-Quad doesn’t take off from solid ground. Dr. Kevin Jones and his team from the Naval Postgraduate School developed it to fly straight up from the ocean or any body of water. And it can land back on water after it has fulfilled its mission, staying on or under the surface until it’s deployed again.

According to New Scientist, the Aqua-Quad (PDF) could be used to replace sonobuoys to search for submarines, especially enemy subs that might be lurking in the depths of the country’s oceans.

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They’re even better than the actual expendable sonar systems, because they’re not constrained by battery life: the drone’s rotors are covered in solar cells and can generate power after a little time under the sun. In addition, it can hunt for subs in flocks in case the Navy wants to scour a big area more quickly. Jones told the publication that as a sonobuoy replacement, the drone “[will] be on the water 23 hours a day, and flying maybe one hour a day.” It was designed as a “launch and forget” system with a water-tight enclosure, though, so we’re guessing it’s tough enough to endure the ocean’s harsh conditions.

Source: Engadget

Tuesday
Mar292016

First Fully Autonomous Urban Drone Delivery in the US

Flirtey Nevada CropA drone has successfully delivered a package to a residential location in a small Nevada town in what its maker and the governor of the state said Friday was the first fully autonomous urban drone delivery in the U.S.

 

Flirtey CEO Matt Sweeney said the six-rotor drone flew about a half-mile along a pre-programmed delivery route on March 10 and lowered the package outside a vacant residence in an uninhabited area of Hawthorne, southeast of Reno.

The route was established using GPS. A pilot and visual observers were on standby during the flight but weren’t needed, Sweeney said.

He said the package included bottled water, food and a first-aid kit.

“Conducting the first drone delivery in an urban setting is a major achievement, taking us closer to the day that drones make regular deliveries to your front doorstep,” Sweeney said.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval congratulated the company “on successfully completing the nation’s first fully autonomous urban package delivery.”

“I am thrilled that Flirtey is not only testing its cutting-edge technology in Nevada, but also creating jobs through its headquarters relocation to Reno,” Sandoval said in a statement.

Flirtey Nevada 1200

Flirtey conducted the first FAA-approved, rural drone delivery in July to a rural health care clinic in Virginia.

The Nevada delivery demonstrates that advanced drone systems allow aerial vehicles to safely navigate around buildings and deliver packages with precision within a populated area, Sweeney said.

The company recently moved its headquarters from Australia to Nevada. It said the recent delivery was filmed for an upcoming ABC-TV documentary.

Hawthorne, a town of about 3,000 residents, is the home of the Hawthorne Army Depot.

Flirtey has been conducting research and development through a partnership with the Nevada Advanced Autonomous Systems Innovation Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. Nevada is one of six states the FAA has designated as unmanned aircraft systems test sites.

“This was by far one of the most successful (unmanned aircraft systems) operations we ran and represents an advanced level of test and development … by Flirtey,” said Chris Walach, director of operations for the FAA-designated Nevada site.

Source: Tech Times

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